Pignone's Husband Faces Business Debts

The Spouse Of Orange County Chairman Candidate Fran Pignone Paid 190,000 To Settle A Case Involving A Failing Printing Company And Faces Another Suit.

June 10, 1994|By Lawrence J. Lebowitz of The Sentinel Staff

The husband of Orange County chairman candidate Fran Pignone recently paid $190,000 to settle a court judgment over unpaid business debts on a failing printing company he owns.

Fran Pignone was listed as a defendant in the foreclosure suit filed by NationsBank because she personally guaranteed payment of the debt if her husband or his companies could not pay.

The couple are defendants in another suit that seeks more than $1 million in debts on the business.

Aside from the guarantees, Fran Pignone, a county commissioner since 1990, had no ties to Daniels Publishing, which is owned by her husband, Frank.

But the lawsuits could become an issue during the already heated chairman's campaign, in which incumbent Linda Chapin is facing opposition from Pignone and former County Commissioner Tom Dorman.

Frank Pignone and his attorney, Frank Kruppenbacher, said it is wrong to link any of the printing business woes to Fran Pignone's campaign.

''I think this was an effort to embarrass Ms. Pignone with a matter that has nothing to do with her other than she was a wife who stood by her husband,'' Kruppenbacher said.

''She guaranteed a business loan for her husband. Her husband settled the loan with the bank. . . . The matter is concluded.''

The Pignones could have been facing a steeper bill than the $190,000 that was paid.

On May 18, Circuit Judge Lawrence Kirkwood issued a $300,474 judgment against Daniels Publishing and the Pignones for failing to honor a previously negotiated settlement with the bank.

Court records show that Frank Pignone - an airline pilot and a former Orange County School Board member - had agreed to pay $200,000 by May 15 to close the case. He had made a $10,000 payment in April.

When the remaining $190,000 did not arrive, the bank returned to court and asked Kirkwood to order the business and the Pignones to pay the entire $300,474.

Frank Pignone paid NationsBank the $190,000 sometime after May 18. Howard Marks, the bank's attorney, said the bank will file court papers vacating the judgment and ending the case.

Marks declined to say when the debt was settled or why the bank didn't insist that the entire sum be paid. NationsBank officials refused to comment on any aspect of the case.

The problems regarding Daniels Publishing are not over.

A second lawsuit filed against the Pignones in 1991 by the widow of a prominent Orlando televangelist, the Rev. E. J. Daniels, is pending.

Daniels sold the company to Bar-One Inc., a company headed by Frank Pignone, in 1983. Daniels died in 1987. The bank and Daniels' widow, Elizabeth, both sued in 1991 when the printing business started failing and missed several mortgage deadlines.

Elizabeth Daniels, who is second in line for repayment behind the bank, is seeking more than $1 million from the Pignones in unpaid promissory notes and mortgages.

Now that the bank case appears to be settled, the Daniels lawsuit will be reactivated, said attorney William B. Mims Jr.

''We've got a long way to go to settle that part,'' Frank Pignone said of that case, which is set for mediation this month.

NationsBank sold the printing and office equipment at public auction to pare down Frank Pignone's debt, court records show. His company still controls the land and building on 29th Street.

Bar-One Inc. also owes $76,313 in back property taxes and interest for the last four years on the printing plant, according to the Orange County tax collector's records.